YouTube Pre-Roll Ad Invites Viewers To Change A Bad Habit

Chilean agency Mayo Draft FCB made great use of pre-roll ad space with their recent ad campaign for Homecenter Sodimacs on YouTube. Instead of inviting viewers to ‘skip the ad’ after the mandatory 5 second viewing time, viewers were also presented with the option to ‘skip the behavior.’ The ads started by saying, ‘In five seconds, your behavior could change an everyday bad habit.’ The screen would then change to images of common household habits that are bad for the environment, like the one below: ‘With that light bulb that stayed on all day you could have washed three full loads of laundry. If you want to change the habit, the first change begins at home.’ Viewers were then prompted to ‘skip the ad’ or ‘skip the behavior.’

If viewers skipped the ad, their video played like usual; if they skipped the behavior, they were taken to an ‘Eco Guide’ site that featured helpful tips on how they could save energy and care for the environment at home. In one week, 80,000 people choose to ‘skip the behavior’ instead of the ad. The advertisement shows that pre-roll advertising can be a very valuable space.

Check out the video below for an in-depth look at the innovative YouTube ad: